I can do Waterbury/Montpelier in 4 from my house and your an hour from there right? Besides... any excuse to be in VT is a good excuse Yah 4 hours plus the difference, I lived in Waterbury for a while, so I know the territory and back roads pretty well.
I'm in Northern NY and would be ALLLLL over that. The closest one for me is in MA at 7 hours away and PA 9 hours away... where in NE were you thinking? Kingdom?